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Bathroom towels weren’t drying between uses and started smelling, the house was permanently festooned with backed up washing that wasn’t drying before the rest came out of the machine, humidity at 90% indoors at 17.5 degrees.
We were actually pretty ok from the warmth perspective, but the whole admin of the house and living conditions were deteriorating.
Fans and open windows (little PC fans get stuck in shoe openings)
Things were getting desperate here as well, especially riding gear/shoes and bathroom towels and the leaking roof wasn't helping.
Fixed the roof yesterday and today's not raining so the washing has been in the garden and doors/windows all opened up but I suspect the plaster has taken almost as much as its going to.
Finally caved yesterday and popped the CH on – not because of the cold but because I was decorating and the sodding paint wouldn’t dry so I could give it a second coat.
Pretty much this: have had it on the last couple of days to dry the paint a bit faster.
Positive pressure ventilation Perhaps but pound for pound our condenser drier is still more efficient both in time and energy usage than our dehumidifier at getting things dry.
YMMV if you have a crap tumble drier.
The winds better still.
The dehumidifier gets used when I have low solar generation so I'm not exceeding the single point draw of what's availible.....hence I know what it uses over a load Vs my tumble drier a load.
One of the few benefits of a new build is that the insulation is pretty amazing.
We're South facing, so the house gets warm year round.
Dropped to 5'C last night, but our thermometer still said 18.3'C indoors at about 11pm! Heating has been off since April.
The only heat we get is from the kitchen (mainly slow cooker) and hot water tank in the airing cupboard which we dropped to 45'C too. We're very comfortable, so still leaving the heating off.
Really feel for people in older houses, especially if you're up North!
Below zero last night heating on. Chomped through £4.70 by 0630 this morning, just under £10 at 1300. Mind a few washes through the machine this am.
Because it's been warmer than usual for the last 5 months and we live in the middle of a terrace, without really noticing I'm now hundreds of pounds in credit
I'm going to put the bloody heating on tonight though
Minus 6 here last night. I have no qualms about heating the house.
Not quite caved in yet, have decided that it'll go on next week once I've built a loft hatch.
The rain the last 48h has been the killer, everything's damp and it's that shitty feeling of getting in from the commute, being slightly sweaty but cold, you kits damp, and then just not being able to warm up, then putting damp gloves on in the morning.
False economy. Would need more than one at £130 plus each, then running costs at a unit cost for electricity still more than triple that of gas even now.
In isolation yep.
But you get more heat out than you put in due to the condensed water. In addition to the energy saving of dry air being easier to warm, and not having to have airflow though the house to keep humidity low. And it's cheaper than the tumble dryer, or having the heating on, but having to crack open a window to let the moisture escape and cold+dry air in.
Thick frost this morning here.
I feel sorry for folk who genuinely can't afford their heating, but for folk who are just tight - remember, you're a long time dead.
And it’s cheaper than the tumble dryer, or having the heating on,
Thats the bit I'm not convinced of TBH.
My experience with dehumidifiers is that without air flow in the house to promote air exchange they only have a limited radius of effect, and the heat contribution, even with latent heat of condensation seems pretty negligible.
This has become an obsession for me (much to the annoyance of the wife).
We've been doing really well with keeping the heating off, I went full in on smart TRVs so can heat the rooms we need (so bedroom just before we get up to take the chill off). The new TRVs also show me humidity and that just been getting higher and higher, its now really an issue as the windows are covered in condensation.
We do all the drying in the cellar/office/mancave with a dehumidifier and its ace but I'm thinking we are going to need another upstairs.
I'm liking the idea that dryer air will be cheaper to heat...it this actually translates into the cold hard cash remains to be seen.
but for folk who are just tight – remember, you’re a long time dead
Have you considered that many people reducing their usage even if they can afford it is beneficial for all by reducing demand and therefore price.
Back in the real world... Rich King hosts an alternative Cop27 ('cause a complete loon told him not to go to the real one that he would have liked to have gone to*) in his massive palace, and invites a bunch of braying, also rich sycophantic suits, who all drive there in luxury limos, most of whom also had a security detail, in their own V8 cars.
*surely being a King means you get to do King things? Like go places without being told what to do.
Heating comes on for a couple of hours in the morning and evening, all rads off except the towel rail just to dry the otherwise stinking, damp towels.
Once a week, all the rads go on to get the washing dry or at least finish it off if we've been able to get it on the line.
Wood burner on every night heating the rest of the house.
Scienceofficer
False economy. Would need more than one at £130 plus each, then running costs at a unit cost for electricity still more than triple that of gas even now.
May as well just use the gas get all the same benefits and be a bit warmer too.
We’re fortunate that we have a fairly well insulated house and big radiators so my experiment with 47 degrees flow temperatures is going well so far boiler is actually barely firing presently.
Do you not just have warm wet air then though? Before we started using a dehumidifier we had terrible problems with condensation on any vaguely cold surface (outdoor walls for example)
My wife doesn't quite get the concept or the impact of this cost of living crisis. Whereas i see turning the heating on as a last resort, she sees it as the opposite. Quite disappointing really.
literally jsut been talking about this in the office
my colleague, ina 50's hosue ,with draughty windows having his on periodically at times for past few weeks
im i na 600's terrace without draughty double glazing, but theres usually a window open slightly somewhere... have only put hte heating on to quickly dry clothes maybe the once since beofre spring
Almost.. wanted it o nthe other night.. late.. went to bed instead
i dont care about it being on, i just dont need it on
this morning was chilly out of bed.. that may be the first thing to alter, Nest thermostat is pretty good stuff and i let it do its thing
always breathing in damp air is not good for you! Made a massive difference to my asthma when I learnt about dehumidifiers. Most have a fan I guess to help promote said airflow.My experience with dehumidifiers is that without air flow in the house to promote air exchange they only have a limited radius of effect, and the heat contribution, even with latent heat of condensation seems pretty negligible.
Mine has clicked on this week, must have got below 17°C. I almost rushed here to post this exciting news but couldn't be arsed.
Don't understand the post above where the heating was on all night, mines on a bit in morning and a bit in evening it would have to be properly Baltic before I considered having it on al night!!
Why is the air damp though that's what needs addressed.
Your house should be no more damp than outside unless your purposefully making it damp....ie not using extraction and drying clothes in it.
We use our dehumidifier in a small drying room and it's still more expensive than the condenser drier for drying washing . Admittedly I'm not trying to dry the whole house/world
Still haven't put mine on yet, the heat from the oven cooking my food and a fan pushing it round the flat is more than enough to keep things comfy. Don't have a tumble dryer but running a fan on low overnight easily dries everything, open the window for 20-30 mins while having my breakfast and the moisture gets out with the heat returning from the walls while I'm in work.
Really notice it if I don't cook though, takes a while day to get the temps back up.
Do you not just have warm wet air then though?
Well, yes, but no, because of relative humidity effects and ventilation.
We don't have many cold surfaces due to the aforementioned insulation, and, uh, you know, the heating.
I also run a passive ventilation stack via the bathroom ceiling and trickle vents to admit cooler air with a lower water vapour burden.
Everything is a compromise. I'd rather have better air quality than a slightly smaller fuel bill. Ideally, I'd run MHVR which I view as the best of all worlds, but my chances of achieving acceptable air tightness in a 1980 build with a suspended timber floor without a high level of disruptive and expensive retrofit is bugger all.
Still no ch but over the past week have had to use the tumble dryer for about 4 complete loads straight from washer and and about 4 half dry loads.
Your house should be no more damp than outside
Well, there are people in here respiring, perspiring, cooking and drying themselves and their hands in towels; but it's absolutely wringing wet outside too. The woods are sodden, it's been raining loads and there are piles of wet leaves everywhere. Humidity is forecast to be 92% day and night here.
What size of dehumidifier for Cardiff then?
Given as per the other threads you have airtightness issues your pissing in the wind. (Literally natch)
Dehumidifier
False economy. Would need more than one at £130 plus each, then running costs at a unit cost for electricity still more than triple that of gas even now.
Except you're not trying to heat the house with one, just manage condensation - we just use it to dry washing when it's too wet outside. Ours is around 200W, so run for a few hours and we've still not used 1 kWh.
The only dehumidifier I've had that would dry a full load of washing in less than 5 hours was a 1600w industrial unit used for drying out the dining room after the mains flooded.
Our 300w dehumidifier seems to take 15-20hrs to dry anything other than thin synthetics - such as the mostly jeans and heavy flannel and padded shirts I wear at this time of year.
Aaaannnd, still in shorts and no heating (obv) in Cambs… 🙃
The Ayatollah did insist on the gas fire being on for an hour last night tho. It passed through the fun filter test as a special treat...
Oh and towels. We just stick them in the airing cupboard between showers. No problem. 👍
such as the mostly jeans and heavy flannel and padded shirts I wear at this time of year.
I just assumed it was hair shirts.
Given as per the other threads you have airtightness issues your pissing in the wind.
Dunno. The heatings on so that's decreasing the relative humidity enough. We don't have any damp issues and towels and washing are now drying out quite well.
We'll see what the bills are like soon enough.
I just assumed it was hair shirts.
Only at weekends these days the office didn't approve
A dehumidifier is better than electric radiators because:
The latent heat from the condensation warms the air. I did some sums on the latent heat for the volume of water recovered for a running time at x watts and found I was getting about 1.3 kW for 1 kW consumed.
Dry air doesn't feel as cold
You aren't heating just to prevent condensation.
As for airtightness issues you can have alternative strategies:
Completely airtight and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.
Natural ventilation based on trickle vents hot air rising and relatively low air change rates
Mechanical ventilation without heat recovery.
Open windows
If you have a shower and then leave the bathroom the most energy efficient way of getting the humidity back down and drying it out is a dehumidifier assuming that heat recovery is around 75% efficient, mechanical ventilation without heat recovery is 100% inefficient and opening windows will cost you more than running a dehumidifier. It isn't a substitute for ventilation, it specifically for dehumidifying.
Its on today....
We have extractor fans fitted in our bathrooms but they are shit and noisy. I'm considering replacing them and also fixing the cooker hood ducting. I think if we use these it should help with humidity.
15C in my flat now but not putting on the heater unless temp has gone down to 12c.
The max temp I set is 18c. I want to feel the Siberian freeze LOL!
Last year my bedroom temperature was 4C and could only managed for a week LOL!
I want to tell me mates in Borneo the experience of feeling the frozen hell.
p/s: oh ya I was contemplating buying some Inuit fur clothing at one point.
We have extractor fans fitted in our bathrooms
Been looking at MVHR . Standalone single room units look a bit shit in the reviews -happy to be directed otherwise mind. Whole house units look better value if you can get the access.
I can get my kitchen , bathroom , all three bedrooms and the living room all hooked up to a central unit without too much intrusion. It's tempting given the cost of a single unit Vs a whole house system. The dining room and annoyingly the utility/drying room can't be got at 🙁
Came home after five days away to find son grumbling (only slightly) as downstairs temp had dropped to 13. Caved in, heating on for an hour, rads bled. Not put it on timed yet though, we'll see how it feels tomorrow evening, I'm thinking turn the stat down to 16 and try half hour in the mornings and an hour in the evenings unless it get proper cold.
Our Google smart thermostat has been doing it's thing since the end of September,it's set to reach and hold 19c from 7am until 8.30, then back down to13c until 5pm where it tries to reach 20c until 9pm, it usually results in firing the boiler for an hour in the morning and an hour or more in the evening, cost of doing that for October was £185.
Plus the usual electricity costs of £141.
... cost of doing that for October was £185.
Plus the usual electricity costs of £141.
Crikey! That's a lot of energy bill.
Crikey! That’s a lot of energy bill
If prices stay at current levels I think it will work out at just under £5k for 12 months.
If prices stay at current levels I think it will work out at just under £5k for 12 months.
Is that your normal energy bill or due to recent rate increment?
If prices stay at current levels I think it will work out at just under £5k for 12 months.
Holy ****!
Is that your normal energy bill or due to recent rate increment?
Just due to the recent increases, 2 years ago our bill was circa 2k per year
I need to get more efficient boiler,our current one is from 1992,but even that would only reduce the bills by a relatively small amount.
House is 4 bed 1930s detached, double glazed, insulation in roof(but probably could be better),
Ground source here. So you don't really ever turn it off. Adjust the 'curves' but ours is quite an old system so not too much control. Underfloor heating downstairs, big(ger) rads upstairs. Works well, pretty efficient - as we can't get gas and we don't want oil so not too much choice. Ripped out the Economy 7 when we moved in 15 years ago. Even then it was expensive and useless.
She of that is because the house isn't very energy efficient. Next year we'll take the roof off, properly insulate everywhere again, install solar between the joists and power up a big battery.
I grew up in a cold house, I'm not going back to one!
Just due to the recent increases, 2 years ago our bill was circa 2k per year
Jesus! That's a huge increase!
I think I am going to invest in more merino long john now.
I survive by wearing several layers during the cold nights i.e. wearing base, mid, and insulated wool. Feel a bit like Michelle man LOL!
Ground source here.
How much for last month energy bill?
p/s: Oh yes my energy has doubled too..
Last bill 14m3 of gas cost us £11. In the last 5 days with heating on we've used 11m3, which at these mild temps would work out at roughly £50/mo. Not too bad so far. We've been at home all day though this week.
I've installed the Loop Energy app on my phone and hooked it up to my smart meter. I've had the heating on for about an hour on 3 out of the last 5 days and it shows I've used 154kWh of gas at a cost of £17.11 - this obviously includes HW use as well (it is only able to calculate using the price cap tariff based on where I live so it might be slightly inaccurate).
I have turned the dials for HW and CH down on my combi boiler. No idea if this is helping or not though. Based on the usage thus far though, with the dials turned down, I could easily see the heating alone costing over £10 per day if used as it has been previously in the winter; about £12-13 with HW included too.
Put the heating on for the first time on Wednesday and again yesterday. Only for half hour or so. Direct debit has been upped to £100 p/m for gas& electric. So so far so good.
Live in a 50s detached house, well insulated loft and double glazing (some old, some new) Barrybados has been pretty mild so far, just constant rain!
Our house is terrible. 1880s build heavy slates on roof with a flat area which is zinced. Upsatairs room are the shape you'd expect of an attic room but the roof follows the profile. Theres no access to the gap between ceiling and roof as there's no gap or insulation. Fixing that means removing all the lathe and plaster which is a huge job. So we're looking at £300-400 per month in gas and electric through the winter. It was noticeably cooler feeling when humidity rose, as the weather has got dreich, so heating is keeping things at 16C
I could easily see the heating alone costing over £10 per day if used as it has been previously in the winter; about £12-13 with HW included too.
Yep, our gas use yesterday was just over £13, elec use just over £5.
Turning the dial down (for CH) and the flow down, and balancing all the rads has helped quite a bit. Previously the radiators would come on very hot, the system would work hard and you'd feel baked, and it would turn off and get chilly again really quickly. We had hot water entering each radiator and flowing through it quite quickly and not cooling down much, so the return flow was hot which makes the boiler less efficient.
With the temperature lower and the flow slower it is keeping the return flow temps low which improves efficiency. The input to the rads is cooler to begin with and because the flow is slower the temperature is dropping across the rad so the outlet is cooler. It needs to be on longer and more consistently, but the house is much more evenly heated and more comfortable.
Yep, our gas use yesterday was just over £13, elec use just over £5
Blimey! Our gas use hasn’t been over £13 a month yet.
Blimey! Our gas use hasn’t been over £13 a month yet
I assume you are referring to just the Calor Gas in your pizza oven or something...!
I assume you are referring to just the Calor Gas in your pizza oven or something…!
ha - yep, even back in june before the recent price increases, and when we were only heating water with the boiler we were spending ~£40 per month on gas.
I assume you are referring to just the Calor Gas in your pizza oven or something…!
Nope. Whole house, heating still hasn’t needed to come on as it hasn’t dropped to less than 17deg internally. Only use has been by combi for showering. We are only 2 adults living in a sensibility sized house in the East Midlands, that is insulated well and has new windows/doors and CH system though.
Just looking at the usage history for the leccy in the Loop app and it looks like I am saving over £40 per month by turning things off at night via smart plugs and putting all the devices in "eco" mode where possible (TVs, Xbox's etc). Data is a bit skewed as we have just had October half term and it doesn't go back past July which was the start of summer hols and the whole of Aug is not a good comparison for the same reason, but comparing Sept with October (which was when I fitted the plugs) there is a £35 usage drop despite everyone being in the house using TVs etc. for a week in October
Only use has been by combi for showering.
Our morning gas cost with no CH involved, just showering 4 people, is about £1, so £25 - £30 per month just on showers! You must be showering together....😜
the digi thermometer in the lounge tells me that this week we dropped lower than the 17.5min which has been there since late september, now been as low as 16.3.
might be lighting the stove this weekend.
Gas currently £2 a day for about 4-5 hours heat (early morning, late afternoon). Leccy staying static at about £5 a day, after cutting down use. House built in 95 and well insulated.
Ripped out the Economy 7 when we moved in 15 years ago. Even then it was expensive and useless.
Hope you kept the meter in place as that could pay for itself if you're in the right trial area for off-peak use.
it looks like I am saving over £40 per month by turning things off at night via smart plugs and putting all the devices in “eco” mode where possible
That seems an insanely high figure. We're not paying a lot more than that for everything.
Currently paying about 160/month for everything and that includes charging my car every night at 9kwh each go. Battery and solar being installed Monday so should see a significant reduction in costs being able to charge the battery on cheap for day time use.
…which seems insanely low! Don’t you have an EV? Do you sit around in darkness every night?! 😀That seems an insanely high figure. We’re not paying a lot more than that for everything.
Hope you kept the meter in place as that could pay for itself if you’re in the right trial area for off-peak use.
We have. The meters here are a nightmare. We're in the middle of three houses and the end one is very old and has some protections on what can be done to the outside. The three meters are on their wall. Fair to say when Western Power came and ripped the old ones off and stuck new plastic horrors on there without asking, it didn't got down very well! I remember with all the E7 stuff on and running multiple heaters as the house was so cold we blew main the fuse. They had to put is a bigger one in. I think the bill for one QUATER was nearly 2 grand. And that's 15 years ago. Anyway I digress.
Someone asked what our bill is? I dunno, I'll ask 'her who controls the cash' to see how much it's gone up.
Our bills are all messed up at the moment, so I can't say exactly what we're paying. Usage was about 6.6kWh a day all in in September, some of which had low car mileage, and it was about 15kWh per day in Oct with more driving. Our microwave is bust though which is causing a lot of extra oven usage.
Our day rate is higher than the cap but we program dishwasher and washing machine overnight so it's hard to separate it all.
Do you sit around in darkness every night?!
Most evenings there are only a few lights on yes!
I shower every day, sometimes twice. My gas is £3pcm plus standing charge so £14
I also have a gas hob that is used pretty much daily.
My gas combi also hot fills my washing machine and dishwasher, which i then turn the hot water off after its done the initial filling so cold rinse after that.
Ok, so occasionally i forget or go out so dont turn off the hot.
Apparently the difference between the first year we had the ground source installed and what's projected this year is about a 200% increase! And about 70% of that is in the last year.
Still I expect that'll go down when we've done all the work needed on the roof/insulation. Should pay itself back into about 200 years 😉
Well my CH went on for the first time yesterday. 1 degree outside, and digi thermometer in living room was showing 13.8 degrees. Lots of condensation on patio doors, and all windows tbf.
Realised this morning I needed to bleed 7/8 radiators, and the CH plumber who re-piped one of the rads had also turned all the return valves to 'only just open'. Should return valves be fully open?
Edit: my living room is at back of house and faces NE so until spring it does not get to see sunlight as any sun is blocked by other houses. I've also realised that despite what the bathroom company said, we very much do need an extractor in there!!!
the CH plumber who re-piped one of the rads had also turned all the return valves to ‘only just open’. Should return valves be fully open?
Nope. Only if they need to be. He’s balanced them.
My gas combi also hot fills my washing machine and dishwasher, which i then turn the hot water off after its done the initial filling so cold rinse after that.
Why? Modern washing machines and dishwashers are designed for cold fill only and at their most efficient that way.
My modern washing machine is quite happy being filled from my solar thermal (and has been for over 10 years). It just means the machine doesn't need to heat the water with its own element. So it's a hell of a lot more efficient as most of the energy consumed by a washing machine is used to heat the water, even on a 30° wash. Even in december half the heat gain from mains water temperature is made by the solar thermal. In Summer I play with the valves to blend hot and cold to 30-40° because neither the machine nor the clothes would appreciate water over 60°C
More efficient, how exactly?
Yes, if you have a 18ft run from combi to washing machine, mines 18in.
Yes, if you let it hot rinse, i dont.
Yes if your heating a 130ltr indirect tank and using that, im not.
I use a 40c wash. I don't know if the electric heating element fires at all.
Ditto dishwasher, hot feed from combi with the dw spurred off the hot watet tap in the kitchen.
Which i hot feed by running the hot taps for 30scecs so the pipe is full of dhw. Use 40c wash as well and i know the electric element fires in the dw, its common sense and any thermal mass calcs will show 5kg of plates cups cutlery plus a cold stainless box will suck alot of the heat straight out of the filling water, which i guess the heater adds to over the next 10 mins.
I have spend decades heating millions of litres of water so do have a little experience in the subject.
That seems an insanely high figure. We’re not paying a lot more than that for everything.
Actually having looked a bit more closely it’s about a £25 saving but below is a pic of October’s electricity usage…🙄😮
Didn’t sound that implausible to me tbh at todays energy prices! Think I worked it out that it was only an extra 160W left on 24/7. I once left a soldering iron on in the garage for best part of a week 😂 It’s on a smart plug now that times out after an hour. They’re a great idea!
Still not had the CH on although we had the log fire on yesterday (for about the fifth time this year). I am going to have to cave soon though as its been as low as 13deg in the house (currently 15deg today) and all the bedroom windows are starting to get lots of condensation on them and I can imagine if we tried to last all winter without the CH we'd end up with damp/mould issues instead.
Getting fed up of damp towels and a general musty smell throughout the house. Even making up another reed diffuser can't disguise it. The bathroom has become a torture chamber, which is fine if you like that sort of thing I suppose.
Resolve is weakening, should I simply wtfu oh wise ones?
Bathroom has not got the damp issues it had since fitting a radiator which runs hot water through the towel rails as well. Also fitted a more powerful extractor with a humidity sensor.
Towels are now dry, even after a night ride shower, which in winter they struggled to be.
Pity the rest isn't as easy a fix.
Airflow is the always good. If you can hang a towel over say a chair in a room on the down wind side of the house. Open a window then the venturi effect will suck air out.
Are you really so short of money you need to damage your health and house?Put the heating on CG,your current situation sounds a bit unhinged to me.
Getting fed up of damp towels
Stop washing, then you won't be making the towels damp. Sorted.